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Opening Plenary Of The 2010 Skoll World Forum

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Session Description

Excitement builds as guests gather for the first time in 2010 at the Opening Plenary. A gift of majestic song by Vusi Mahlasela, South African singer-songwriter and Poet Activist kicks off the Forum. Next, two warm welcomes from Colin Mayer of the Saïd Business School, and Jeff Skoll.

The first speech was by Lakhdar Brahimi, Veteran UN Envoy and advisor, and former foreign minister to Algeria. His talk focused on his life in conflict and his work in South Africa, Haiti, Sudan, Iraq and Lebanon. “What I have learned in these 20 years in trying to make peace is …that you come across a lot of courage and forgiveness…”

The opening plenary’s panel focused on Governance, Transparency And Collaboration and was moderated by John Ydstie, Economic Correspondent, National Public Radio. Panelists were Ann Cotton, Executive Director of Camfed International;
 Diana Good and Lance Croffoot-Suede, Partners of Linklaters LLP;
 Dr. Felix Phiri, Director of Planning and Information, Ministry of Education in Zambia, and
 Faith Nkala, Deputy Executive Director of Camfed Zimbabwe. The focus was on a report about the importance of educating African girls.

Later, Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, gives a presentation called “Catalyzing Collaboration: Our Humanity at Stake.” During his talk, he shows a video about the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, called “No words can describe what happened that day.” He later says that the images of the ill in the video were taken recently, three months after the earthquake, asking “What is the disconnect between great need on the one hand, and unstinting giving on the other?”

To end the opening plenary, Pamela Hartigan, director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, thanked everyone who put the Forum together and asked them by name to stand for applause.

Time & Location

Time:
17:00 - 18:30, Wednesday, April 14, 2010 BST
Speakers
  • Speaker
    Principal, LCS Global Group
    I am the Principal of LCS Global Group. LCS Global Group works with organizations and corporations on governance and compliance challenges, and innovative financing and scaling their businesses and operations successfully.
  • Speaker
    Writer, Blue Oceans For Health
    Ira Leeds is a final-year medical student at Emory University and concurrently pursuing an MBA at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. More of his work appears on his permanent blog Blue Oceans for Health.
  • Speaker
    Deputy Executive Director, CAMFED
    Faith Nkala is Deputy Executive Director and Head of Monitoring and Evaluation for Camfed in Zimbabwe. Faith is proud to have grown from being a beneficiary of Camfed to an outstanding role model. Her leadership in recent participatory and empowering research left rural communities…
  • Speaker
    Member; Veteran United Nations Envoy and Advisor, The Elders
    Former Foreign Minister, Algeria Former UN USG/special Envoy/Peace Operations Now retired Member of the Elders , GLF, IPS
  • Speaker
    Director of Planning and Information,, Ministry of Education, Zambia
    With 15 years of working for the Zambian Government, Dr. Felix Phiri is currently the Director of Planning and Information at the Ministry of Education. Dr. Phiri holds technical expertise in the analysis and design of monitoring and evaluation systems, design of systems for aid effectiveness, and…
  • Speaker
    Co-founder and Chief Strategist, Partners In Health
    Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer has dedicated his life to improving health care for the world's poorest people. He is Co-founder and Chief Strategist of Partners In Health (PIH), an international non-profit organization that since 1987 has provided direct health care services and…
  • Speaker
    Economic Correspondent, National Public Radio
    John Ydstie has covered the economy, Wall Street and the federal budget for NPR for two decades and has worked at NPR since 1979. In recent years NPR has broadened his responsibilities, making use of his reporting and interviewing skills to cover major stories like the aftermath of 9/11, Hurricane…
  • Speaker
    Peter Moores Dean, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies, Saïd Business School
    Colin Mayer is Peter Moores Dean of the Saïd Business School, Professor of Management Studies and Professorial Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford. Mayer was the first professor at the Saïd Business School, the Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies. He has served on the editorial boards…
  • Speaker
    Musician,
    His music is generally described as "African folk". His work was an inspiration to many in the anti-apartheid movement. His themes include the struggle for freedom, and forgiveness and reconciliation with enemies. Vusi can also be heard performing on Warren Haynes' Live at Bonnaroo release during…
  • Speaker
    Director (2009-2016), Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship
    Dr. Pamela Hartigan was Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Said Business School at the University of Oxford from 2009 until her passing in 2016. She was also founding partner of Volans Ventures, an organization focused on building innovative scalable solutions to challenges…
  • Speaker
    Founder & Chairman, Jeff Skoll Group
    Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Skoll Foundation Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Participant Media Founder of Capricorn Investment Group Co-founder and GP of the RISE Fund First fulltime employee and President of eBay
  • Speaker
    Founder, CAMFED
    A lifelong educationalist, I began my career teaching English at secondary level before focusing on children excluded from mainstream education. Following research in Zimbabwe, I founded CAMFED International to support and advance the education of rural girls in sub-Saharan Africa. The…